So return with me back to Belgrade....
I was able to meet up with Josh. Seemed we missed each other in the airport. He led me back to the flat at Republic Square, which really is the center of town in Belgrade. Prime location. There was an elevator in the building, which was nice since there were otherwise 1 million stairs to climb; however, it is the smallest and perhaps slowest elevator in the civilized world.
So we get up to the 4th floor, 5th if you aren't going by the European standard of naming the ground floor "Floor 0" (which, frankly, is more consistent with my computer programmer sensibilities). Then Josh revealed the "magic key" The magic key looked like Snape's magic wand if Snape were a steampunk character, or like some sort of obscene torture device, about six inches long with wicked teeth on each side. The real magic to the key, though, was knowing the secret to turning it just so to actually get the door to unlock. I would say we spent fifteen to twenty minutes trying to get that door to open until Josh non-chalantly turned his back to it and turned the key while he faced away from the door, which slid open easy as can be. It was a big, heavy, steel-framed door, and apparently there was a pressure point to the right side of the door that
you needed to coax. These are things they don't put in the travel brochure.
I forget now where we went to dinner that first night. Probably was this sort of cool oncept place where they have a bunch of stations with pizza, salads, pasta, etc. and at any one you give them your little swipe card, and at the end you give the cashier the swipe card and pay for whatever you got. I've seen a similar thing a couple times in the States.
It's much cheaper to get a nice meal in Belgrade than in Denver. A beer, salad, nice entree, and maybe a coffee after will set you back $8-10, about what it costs me to get a burger in downtown Denver. I think it was the next night that we went to a place with more traditional Serbian fare. Well, we walked past it, walked back and finally found it. There are only a few food items that I actually know the Serbian name for and two of them are a couple basic salads: srpska and shopska. Srpska salata has tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and onions. Shopska is basically the same thing with a heap of Bulgarian sirene cheese. These are important items to remember, because they may be the only fresh vegetables you find at a Serbian restaurant. That is a bit exaggerated, but seriously they eat a lot of meat, particularly grilled meats. Serbia is no place to be a vegetarian.
I was able to meet up with Josh. Seemed we missed each other in the airport. He led me back to the flat at Republic Square, which really is the center of town in Belgrade. Prime location. There was an elevator in the building, which was nice since there were otherwise 1 million stairs to climb; however, it is the smallest and perhaps slowest elevator in the civilized world.
 |
| Imagine this key, but twice as long |
you needed to coax. These are things they don't put in the travel brochure.
I forget now where we went to dinner that first night. Probably was this sort of cool oncept place where they have a bunch of stations with pizza, salads, pasta, etc. and at any one you give them your little swipe card, and at the end you give the cashier the swipe card and pay for whatever you got. I've seen a similar thing a couple times in the States.
It's much cheaper to get a nice meal in Belgrade than in Denver. A beer, salad, nice entree, and maybe a coffee after will set you back $8-10, about what it costs me to get a burger in downtown Denver. I think it was the next night that we went to a place with more traditional Serbian fare. Well, we walked past it, walked back and finally found it. There are only a few food items that I actually know the Serbian name for and two of them are a couple basic salads: srpska and shopska. Srpska salata has tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and onions. Shopska is basically the same thing with a heap of Bulgarian sirene cheese. These are important items to remember, because they may be the only fresh vegetables you find at a Serbian restaurant. That is a bit exaggerated, but seriously they eat a lot of meat, particularly grilled meats. Serbia is no place to be a vegetarian.
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